We wish you and yours happiness and health during this holiday season, and thank you for your ongoing support of organized resistance to the ill-fated smart grid techno-disaster. We look forward to a time when the system forcing “smart" meters into our communities is challenged and uprooted, and we are able to generate our own energy, a vision increasingly within our reach.

We are continuing our work to bring an end to smart meters, educating the public about the truth behind the greenwashing.

This includes:

working with legislators and constituents in states without "opt outs" to provide the facts, and help draft legislation that asserts the rights of residents and businesses to refuse smart meters

Stop Smart Meters! is 100% funded by the community. We are grateful for your ongoing support that allows us to keep doing this important work. Please take a moment right now to make an end-of-year one-time, or recurring donation to keep SSM! strong into 2016.Even if it’s not a large gift, it means a lot to us and it does add up. Thank you so very much! Donate Now.

Thank you again for all you do, and we look forward to making some waves with you in 2016.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Urgent: Google Project Loon Set to Start WiFrying the USA on January 1st, 2016

(From Mary Anne Tierney)

Dear EMF Refugees:

Some of you may have already heard of Google’s plan to launch “Project Loon” in the U.S. beginning January 1st. Some of you will be learning of this for the first time. The project is slated to cover 96.1% of the U.S. with balloons in orbit that will provide WiFi to subscribers, but will also cause WiFi to be coming from above… more challenging to avoid. This is troubling, no doubt.

Attached is the heavily-redacted, public version of Google’s application to the FCC for their license to launch this project. Given the current leadership at the FCC, we do not anticipate roadblocks with Google’s request. Google has piloted this project in locations such as New Zealand and Sri Lanka. They are seeking new subscribers for their Internet service, and several of us believe they may start in the US in more underserved areas… more rural areas away from the more advanced networks. This is a two-year “test” — to be rolled out in phases.

We have asked the EMF experts with the International Institute for Building Biology and Ecology for their expertise in helping us plan appropriate shielding. They are creating a sound plan that will give us the best advice, and will consider that many of us are living on limited incomes and may be transient. We expect this plan to become available very soon!

“What I glean from my reading of the Google application to the FCC, which is attached to this email, as well as your excellent description of the technology, copied below, is the following:

1. Transmitters will be on balloons in orbit 62,000 feet (19 kilometers) or roughly 12 miles above the surface of the earth.

2. There will be multiple transmitters, possibly as small as 2 mm in size, beaming targeted RF to a subscriber in a circle roughly 328 feet across (100 meters).

3. The transmissions will be at 71 and 81 GHz.

4. The signal strength could have a maximum EIRP of 55 dBW, or 300,000 watts, or 0.02 microwatts per square centimeter.

5. That puts the power density into terms we can understand, because that is equivalent to 200 microWatts per square meter (µW/m2) at ground level.

A power flux density of 200 µW/m2 is a pittance compared to the thousands or hundreds of thousands of µW/m2 that non-EHS people are exposed to every day at close range from their wireless devices, but it is too high for an EHS person.”

Alasdair from EMFields shared this interpretation: “I now see that they are using LTE (4G) and not WiFi for their modulation schemes. This (200 uW/m^2) value is equivalent to about 0.3 V/m. After coming up with higher values, my last estimate was about 0.13 V/m. So maybe we say a max value about 0.2 V/m. That is very concerning. It will drop off quickly with cloudy weather and in rain.”

+++++++++++++++++++++

In regards to advocating against this project:

Some of you may already be familiar with the GUARDS (Global Union Against Radiation Deployment from Space), a non-profit group led by Arthur Firstenberg from Sante Fe, New Mexico. This group has been working diligently on advocacy against this project. Attached is an objection they just filed to the FCC.

We have asked a number of the EMF scientists and professionals for their best thinking on the most efficient means of advocacy on this issue. This has proven to be challenging to get their ideas during this holiday season. We will keep you posted as ideas are provided. For now, suggestions include writing to the following:

Google (2 addressed provided in the redacted application)

FCC (as the GUARDS have done)

Members of the House of Representatives who are on the committee addressing the FCC Process Reform Act of 2015 (H.R. 2583)

President or Mrs. Obama

It seems important to write hand-written, or at least hand-addressed letters that include not only scientific information, but also personal stories of how we will be affected.

I (Mary Anne) admit this news has been hard on my mental health. I know that the stress has made my EHS symptoms worse, which will only make coping with the forthcoming wifi more challenging. In my calmer moments, I know I am not alone. We are in this together! So here are some of my ideas for our exchanges over the next few weeks and months ahead:

Accept that some will be angry, anxious, grieving, and also:

Try to stay Solution-Focused: Figure out what we can control.

Say the Serenity Prayer often!

Be Open Minded! Lots of folks on here have found some level of healing through various means. Some of us have tried to share new ideas, and been met with harsh words and even cursing. Let’s try to learn from others what has helped them.

As the info about shielding becomes available, let’s consider ways that we can share shielded housing, even temporarily.

For those of us in the U.S.: Let’s continue to share the news of Project Loon as it unfolds.

Urgent: Google Project Loon Set to Start WiFrying the USA on January 1st, 2016

(From Mary Anne Tierney)

Dear EMF Refugees:

Some of you may have already heard of Google’s plan to launch “Project Loon” in the U.S. beginning January 1st. Some of you will be learning of this for the first time. The project is slated to cover 96.1% of the U.S. with balloons in orbit that will provide WiFi to subscribers, but will also cause WiFi to be coming from above… more challenging to avoid. This is troubling, no doubt.

Attached is the heavily-redacted, public version of Google’s application to the FCC for their license to launch this project. Given the current leadership at the FCC, we do not anticipate roadblocks with Google’s request. Google has piloted this project in locations such as New Zealand and Sri Lanka. They are seeking new subscribers for their Internet service, and several of us believe they may start in the US in more underserved areas… more rural areas away from the more advanced networks. This is a two-year “test” — to be rolled out in phases.

We have asked the EMF experts with the International Institute for Building Biology and Ecology for their expertise in helping us plan appropriate shielding. They are creating a sound plan that will give us the best advice, and will consider that many of us are living on limited incomes and may be transient. We expect this plan to become available very soon!

“What I glean from my reading of the Google application to the FCC, which is attached to this email, as well as your excellent description of the technology, copied below, is the following:

1. Transmitters will be on balloons in orbit 62,000 feet (19 kilometers) or roughly 12 miles above the surface of the earth.

2. There will be multiple transmitters, possibly as small as 2 mm in size, beaming targeted RF to a subscriber in a circle roughly 328 feet across (100 meters).

3. The transmissions will be at 71 and 81 GHz.

4. The signal strength could have a maximum EIRP of 55 dBW, or 300,000 watts, or 0.02 microwatts per square centimeter.

5. That puts the power density into terms we can understand, because that is equivalent to 200 microWatts per square meter (µW/m2) at ground level.

A power flux density of 200 µW/m2 is a pittance compared to the thousands or hundreds of thousands of µW/m2 that non-EHS people are exposed to every day at close range from their wireless devices, but it is too high for an EHS person.”

Alasdair from EMFields shared this interpretation: “I now see that they are using LTE (4G) and not WiFi for their modulation schemes. This (200 uW/m^2) value is equivalent to about 0.3 V/m. After coming up with higher values, my last estimate was about 0.13 V/m. So maybe we say a max value about 0.2 V/m. That is very concerning. It will drop off quickly with cloudy weather and in rain.”

+++++++++++++++++++++

In regards to advocating against this project:

Some of you may already be familiar with the GUARDS (Global Union Against Radiation Deployment from Space), a non-profit group led by Arthur Firstenberg from Sante Fe, New Mexico. This group has been working diligently on advocacy against this project. Attached is an objection they just filed to the FCC.

We have asked a number of the EMF scientists and professionals for their best thinking on the most efficient means of advocacy on this issue. This has proven to be challenging to get their ideas during this holiday season. We will keep you posted as ideas are provided. For now, suggestions include writing to the following:

Google (2 addressed provided in the redacted application)

FCC (as the GUARDS have done)

Members of the House of Representatives who are on the committee addressing the FCC Process Reform Act of 2015 (H.R. 2583)

President or Mrs. Obama

It seems important to write hand-written, or at least hand-addressed letters that include not only scientific information, but also personal stories of how we will be affected.

I (Mary Anne) admit this news has been hard on my mental health. I know that the stress has made my EHS symptoms worse, which will only make coping with the forthcoming wifi more challenging. In my calmer moments, I know I am not alone. We are in this together! So here are some of my ideas for our exchanges over the next few weeks and months ahead:

Accept that some will be angry, anxious, grieving, and also:

Try to stay Solution-Focused: Figure out what we can control.

Say the Serenity Prayer often!

Be Open Minded! Lots of folks on here have found some level of healing through various means. Some of us have tried to share new ideas, and been met with harsh words and even cursing. Let’s try to learn from others what has helped them.

As the info about shielding becomes available, let’s consider ways that we can share shielded housing, even temporarily.

For those of us in the U.S.: Let’s continue to share the news of Project Loon as it unfolds.

A Reaction from Canada

Hello Mary-Anne,

I am a Canadian electrohypersensitive woman. I know since a year and half that I have this condition. I have been in touch with André Fauteux (editor of the magazine La Maison du 21e siècle), who sent in his ‘sending list’ your email to me. I knew a bit about this awful project, but learning more makes it even more horrible. I am a scientist (independent, and retired), and I write a blog in André’s magazine (electronic edition): Journal d’une électrosensible…

My question to you is : are there any petitions anywhere against this project ? like an Avaaz one, for instance. People have to let health authorities know how they feel about that, don’t you think ? My master’s degree is in public health and my Ph.D is in social science. It’s a shame that nothing is done to evaluate wi-fi implementation (whatever form it takes) on health. I think that Bill Gates is linked with this project. And at the same time his foundation gives big money to maternal and newborn’s health projects and research (this is my field of expertise).

Anyway, I want to protest, can you guide me to already organized protestations ?

Susan Bitter Smith resigns from Arizona Corporation Commission

Susan Bitter Smith announced Thursday afternoon that she will resign from her seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission effective Jan. 4.

The Attorney General's Office filed a petition in Supreme Court Dec. 1 seeking to remove Bitter Smith from office. The action argues that because Bitter Smith works as the head of the Southwest Cable Communications Association, the state's conflict-of-interest law prohibits her from serving as a regulator on the Arizona Corporation Commission.

The Corporation Commission oversees electric, water and telecommunications companies, among other duties such as regulating securities and overseeing railroad crossings.

On Wednesday, her attorney filed a response to the court action seeking to remove her from her job, stating she has no conflict of interest by also working as a cable television trade group leader.

Bitter Smith said at a news conference this afternoon that she still wants the case to be heard by the court. She spent several minutes disputing the Attorney General's Office petition to remove her before announcing that she was resigning her seat.

She said the court action and media attention on the controversy has been too much of a distraction both to her work at the commission and at the cable association.

"I feel that this distraction will continue," she said. "The public deserves the full attention of the commission and its staff to the upcoming body of work facing the commission. Despite my great love for this job and pride in our successes, my overriding goal is to insure that the work of the people gets done with the appropriate attention it deserves."

Gov. Doug Ducey will appoint a replacement from Bitter Smith’s party to fill the commission seat. She is a Republican.

Daniel Scarpinato, spokesman for Gov. Doug Ducey, could not provide a timeline as to when the governor could appoint a replacement.

"This is an important position and Gov. Ducey will take a thoughtful approach to filling this vacancy,” Scarpinato said.

The appointee will serve the remainder of Bitter Smith's term, which runs through 2016. Next year, voters will elect three commissioners to the five-member organization. In addition to Bitter Smith's seat, Commissioner Bob Stump is terming out and Commissioner Robert Burns is up for re-election.

What's THE major cause of excessive magnetic fields at home?

About 70% of the time, the most common cause of overexposure to domestic (Extremely Low Frequency or ELF/60 Hertz) magnetic fields is not living close to power lines, but home wiring errors and/or code violations that present fire and shock hazards, says American consultant Karl Riley, author of the bestselling guide Tracing EMFs in Building Wiring and Grounding. Generated by current (amperage) when electricity is consumed, ELF magnetic fields fields were officially classified as 'possibly carcinogenic’ by IARC in 2001 because many studies show a doubling of the risk of leukemia in children chronically exposed to levels above 0.4 microTesla (μT) or 4 milligauss (mG). Thus it’s highly recommended to have your house inspected by a competent electrician and EMF consultant.

The data presented here, but not the interpretation are in good agreement with the predictions of the VGCC mechanism. However, the findings that in 26 different studies, effects produced by EMFs can be blocked by calcium channel blockers, show that EMFs act via activation of the VGCCs, not by the mechanism proposed by Dr. Heroux. It follows that Dr. Heroux's interpretation cannot be the explanation of most EMF effects.

Furthermore, and this is most important, we finally have a mechanism for how low intensity EMFs, which industry has been claiming for years, are too weak to do anything, actually can produce massive effects. The VGCCs each have a voltage sensor which can open the channel in response to electrical effects (it does so in the normal physiological mechanism). That voltage sensor has over 20 different charges located within the lipid bilayer of the plasma membrane, such that the electrical forces of the EMFs are highly amplified on the VGCC voltage sensor. The forces on the VGCC voltage sensor because of its structure and location in the plasma membrane to have forces placed on it by these weak EMFs, that are approximately 7.2 million times the forces placed on singly charged groups found elsewhere in the cell. This estimate comes strait out the Physics - from the consequences of part of Coulomb's law and from amplification of electrical effects because of the high electrical resistance of the plasma membrane.

I ask you to put this on the email net and if Dr. Heroux wants to debate further, I would be delighted to do so.

Professor Rainer Nyberg changed his opinion of wireless technology in March 2013. At that time he had been lecturing in Finland and Sweden for many years and had written books about the uses and benefits of online learning. In this interview, for TV-Finland’s Channel, he explains how he found out about the health risks directly linked to wireless emissions from the technology he had assumed would only have positive effects.

What started your interest in wireless technology and its effects on health?

It actually began with my deep interest and involvement in new technology. As a teacher-trainer at the Faculty of Education I also started projects on IT-pedagogy and e-Learning. This resulted, among other things, in two books. One was How To Teach Online Education, another was a 350 page Research Guide, with 120 pages on how the Internet can be used to search for scientific information.

AbstractLittle is known about the real everyday exposure of children in Europe to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MFs). The aims of this study are to (i) assess personal ELF-MF exposure in children; (ii) to identify factors determining personal and bedroom ELF-MF exposure measurements in children; (iii) to evaluate the reproducibility of exposure summary measures; and (iv) to compare personal with bedroom measurements.

In Switzerland and Italy, 172 children aged between 5 and 13 years were equipped with ELF-MF measurement devices (EMDEX II, measuring 40-800 Hz) during 24-72 h twice, in the warm and the cold season. In addition, 24-h measurements were taken in the bedroom of children.

In our study, sample geometric mean ELF-MF exposure was 0.04 μT for personal and 0.05 μT for bedroom measurements. Living within 100 m of a highest voltage power line increased geometric mean personal exposure by a factor of 3.3, and bedroom measurements by a factor 6.8 compared to a control group. Repeated measurements within the same subject showed high reproducibility for the geometric mean (Spearman's correlation 0.78 for personal and 0.86 for bedroom measurements) but less for the 95th and 99th percentile of the personal measurements (≤0.42). Spearman's correlation between bedroom and personal exposure was 0.86 for the geometric mean but considerably lower for the 95th and 99th percentiles (≤0.60).

Most previous studies on ELF-MF childhood leukaemia used mean bedroom exposure. Our study demonstrates that geometric mean bedroom measurements is well correlated with personal geometric mean exposure, and has high temporal reproducibility.

Extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MFs) originate mainly from the use of electricity (Europe 50 Hz, US or Japan 60 Hz), and have been studied as a risk factor for childhood leukaemia since the late 1970s,1 with a current total of more than 30 epidemiological studies. During the last 10 years, several pooled analyses have been published that combined all available data with various exposure indices.2, 3, 4 These pooled analyses consistently found statistically significant increased relative risk estimates for childhood leukaemia for high exposures to ELF-MFs (above 0.3 or 0.4 μT) compared with low exposure (below 0.1 μT). In 2001, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) examined the body of scientific literature on ELF-MFs and concluded from the subset concerning childhood leukaemia that ELF-MFs should be classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” based on “limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans” and “inadequate evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals”.5

This study took place in the framework of the EU FP7 research project ARIMMORA (“Advanced Research on Interaction Mechanisms of electromagnetic exposures with Organisms for Risk Assessments”) ....

Living or attending school within 100 m of a power line with highest voltage (≥220 kV) had the largest impact on the personal ELF-MF broadband exposure. Still, the arithmetic mean exposure of these children was on average moderate with ~0.15 μT, and all but two total exposure values in this group were below 0.4 μT. However, our data indicate that children living further away (100–200 m) or within 50 m of an underground cable are overall not higher exposed to ELF-MFs than other children.

... seasonal changes in electricity consumption is only relevant for highly exposed children whereas in the low-exposure range, the seasonal effect is of minor relevance compared to the random data variability. Children may spend more time indoor than outdoor in the cold season and, this may have also contributed to the seasonal differences of the personal measurements but not the bedroom measurements, which are independent of the behaviour of the children. Other studies17, 30 also found lower temperature or colder seasons to be associated with higher ELF-MF exposure.

Personal and bedroom ELF-MF exposure values in Italy were about 35–45% lower than in Switzerland and lower exposure levels have been found in boys compared to girls. No obvious explanation could be found and, we argue that these findings should not be over interpreted ...

We found mean (arithmetic, geometric or median) bedroom measurements to be strongly (to very strongly) correlated with mean personal exposure measures (Table 5). The correlation we found is somewhat higher than for other studies in adults that reported those correlation coefficients between 0.5 and 0.8,15, 16, 17, 19, 22 which is partly due to our sampling strategy to maximise the exposure range of the sample. In addition, it may reflect the fact that children spend more time at home than adults, in particular the very young children ....

We did not find group differences in the harmonic content of the personal or bedroom measurements, except for the very small sample of participants living in an apartment or home directly adjacent to a transformer that showed an increased but still low average harmonic content (<0 .05="" span="">μT)....

Our study indicates that personal measurements are very useful to identify factors relevant for exposure in children such as temporal variation in electricity consumption as well as the behaviour of the children. In our study, geometric mean of personal measurements was highly reproducible and very strongly correlated with the geometric mean of bedroom measurements, the exposure metric, which is usually used in epidemiological studies on childhood leukaemia. This demonstrates that geometric mean bedroom exposure (either measured or modelled) is expected to represent long-term ELF-MF exposure of children. Reproducibility and respective correlations were lower for high percentiles or for cumulative exposure time above a threshold indicating that such exposure circumstances are unlikely to be the reason for the observed increased leukaemia risks in epidemiological studies.0>

--

Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., DirectorCenter for Family and Community HealthSchool of Public HealthUniversity of California, Berkeley

Finnish education professor’s warning: Wireless technology in schools may lead to a global epidemic of brain damages.

From Agenta Jonsson who has been in contact with Finnish professor Rainer Nyberg. The following is a current update from a Jan 14, 2014 interview with Professor Rainer Nyberg

Finnish education professor’s warning: Wireless technology in schools may lead to a global epidemic of brain damages.

“We must protect children and youth more than we do today.”

Yle Arenan. Yle Nyheter, Finland Jan. 24, 2014

Translated by Agneta Jonsson

Revised by Rainer Nyberg. Nov. 27, 2015

Professor Rainer Nyberg changed his opinion of wireless technology in March 2013. At that time he had been lecturing in Finland and Sweden for many years and had written books about the uses and benefits of online learning. In this interview, for TV-Finland’s Channel, he explains how he found out about the health risks directly linked to wireless emissions from the technology he had assumed would only have positive effects.

In a heavily redacted public version of the Nov. 24 filing with the FCC, Google asks for an experimental license to be granted for 24 months beginning Jan. 1, 2016. Granting the license will not adversely impact any authorized user of RF spectrum, the filing states.

The filing doesn't mention Loon by name, but various publications are connecting it to Loon because the name listed on the application is Astro Teller, whose title is Captain of Moonshots. He has overseen the Google X labs where Loon is being worked on, along with other "moonshot" things like autonomous cars and drones that are now part of Google parent company Alphabet.

Business Insider also pointed out that the most recent filing builds on testing the company previously did in Winnemucca, Nev. In August 2014, one month before Google's first FCC request for a license to test in Winnemucca, published minutes of the Winnemucca City Council revealed a proposal to let Google use its airport industrial park as a "temporary balloon launching facility."

A Google spokesperson did not respond to FierceWirelessTech's request for comment.

The most recent FCC filings show Google wants to use 71-76 GHz and 81-86 GHz spectrum, which work best over short distances, suggesting Google may want to use the millimeter wave radios for balloon-to-balloon communications and LTE to beam the Internet service back down to Earth, Business Insiderreports.

At Google's I/O conference last spring, engineers on a panel about engineering for the stratosphere talked about how in the early days, balloon prototypes usually wouldn't make it too far from California, but they tracked one over Kentucky, where YouTube alerts about UFO sightings started popping up around the same time. The local news showed an image of one of the balloons as part of the "UFO" coverage.

A year ago, Project Loon Director Mike Cassidy told Slate that he anticipated the first customers in rural South America, southern Africa or Oceania would be able to sign up for cellular LTE service provided by Google balloons by 2016.

DATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 | 10AM ET / 7AM PTJoin us as we discuss the important security challenges within the IoT and why security guidelines are so important. We will hear mobile operators and their partners discuss their role in securing the IoT- covering endpoint devices, service platforms and, of course, the mobile networks themselves. Register Now!

While Google is still trying to keep most of its Loon plans secret, it will occasionally share details about what engineers are learning. In a video posted last week, manufacturing lead Mahesh Krishnaswamy talks about how the team has been able to accelerate improvements in balloon lifetime, design and manufacturing by using the McKinley Climatic Lab to test whole balloons at -40 to -60 degrees centigrade (-40F to -76F).

Teller discussed Loon during I/O as well and said the right way to build solutions isn't always immediately clear, so a lot of trial and error occurs. "Sometimes this turns out to be us dragging our balloons up to South Dakota to expose the balloons to arctic winds," he said.

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About Me

While I have always been extremely health conscious and am presently in excellent health, I did become temporarily out-of-commission (i.e. I was really sick) in 2005 with a number of at the time unexplainable symptoms. I was quite puzzled at the time because I had been eating mainly organically grown food, drinking spring water, doing Yoga every morning, and going to the gym several times a week. In other words, I was doing everything one is supposed to do to stay healthy. I was not supposed to get sick. It took me six months before discovering or even imagining the main source of the problem - which was in fact "overexposure to electromagnetic" - especially microwave - radiation. I was living within 200 meters of two cell phone towers at the time and within 500 meters of a 3rd one with numerous WiFi signals bleeding into my apartment from adjacent neighbors. I developed a host of symptoms, which are found in what has been misleadingly described as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) -- but much more accurately described as Radio Wave or Microwave Sickness. Large numbers of people in the USA suddenly started getting sick in 1984...